Hotmail Sign in

Welcome to Login: Windows Live Hotmail Sign in, your online resource for all Hotmail-sign-in related questions and help. After you have signed up for your live.com or hotmail.com email address, the sign in screen will become the most important aspect of the Hotmail experience: you can customize the settings that allow you to login, automatic log out or sign out, how you should proceed when checking your emails from a public computer (at school, at work, or another unfamiliar location), etc. Note that "Outlook.com" is the new name Microsoft gave its free webmail service when it redesigned it - but all the underlying functionality remains relevant!

Tip: we just launched a one-page reference to all matters relating to Microsoft credentials - check out our "Hotmail Sign in" tutorial - just a single bookmark gives you all the tips you need. For more detailed tips and tricks, this website does it!

Hotmail Sign in and the Outlook.com login process

Whenever you are trying to check your emails from a web browser like Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, or Safari, you will either type www.hotmail.com, www.live.com, or www.outlook.com in the address bar, or use a bookmark/favorite to load the sign in page or your inbox. In the foreground or behind the scenes, there are various steps that need to take place during the Hotmail login process:

Of course all the sign in settings you can configure are only available once you have an email address with hotmail.com or live.com email address (or if you are using Windows Live Hotmail for own email account). If you need to use several Hotmail accounts from the same machine, make sure to read "Sign in to multiple / different Hotmail accounts on the same computer" for tips and help.

Windows Live Hotmail Login Options and Settings

The above Hotmail-sign-in tutorials covered secure settings at your disposal when checking your emails, but here are a few Hotmail login options you may not yet know about, like changing the language of the Windows Live Hotmail sign in screen or login straight to your inbox or the Outlook calendar:

All tutorials focused so far on checking your Hotmail account from a desktop web browser; but you can also read your emails on the go, either from a mobile browser or email app: both can apply to smartphones (like the iPhone), regular cell phones (like low-priced Nokia handsets), or "MID's" like the iPod touch or iPad.

Hotmail sign out and the logout process

Perhaps just as important as signing in, and the login process is the logout process: what happens after you sign out of your Hotmail account? Well, this depends on the sign in options you chose initially. There are several precautions to take when signing out of Windows Live Hotmail, especially if you are on a public computer. Have a look at the standard Hotmail sign out to logout of your Hotmail account, and even confirm Hotmail sign out (completely logout) to prevent others from accessing your account.

The login options you pick when you sign in to your Hotmail account play a major role in your security from hackers and identity theft; here are tips and tricks to make the most of Windows Live Hotmail wherever you are, including when checking your emails from a public location or computer that isn't yours:

Common Hotmail sign in problems and sign out error messages

Although you will rarely experience technical issues with your Hotmail account, there are some error messages you should know about to troubleshoot them; in many cases, these simple problems can be worked around once you know their cause, and access your Hotmail emails in spite of everything.

Web browser-related problems

Aside from Hotmail sign in issues on Microsoft servers' end, there are often problems with the web browser you are using to check your emails: an old or unsupported version, JavaScript disabled, cookies turned off, and many other browser-related issues. Here are various "browser + Hotmail" topics: first, a list of web browsers officially supported by Windows Live Hotmail (which doesn't mean that you cannot use another browser of your choice - it just means that not all features are guaranteed to work).